Constantine

There's a new version of Constantine coming to NBC this fall (Fridays at 10pm), this time with an actual blond Brit (well, he's from Wales, I think that counts?) starring! And it looks good! They released a trailer today, and I am pretty excited about it.

Matt Ryan is Constantine, Lucy Griffiths is Liv, Harold Perrineau is Manny, and Charles Halford as Chas. I...have only heard of Harold Perrineau, but he looks fantastic in the trailer, and everyone else seems to be well cast. I'm only vaguely familiar with the comics, though. I DID like the Keanu Reeves version, but not as Constantine, just as a supernatural/horror movie.

I'm really looking forward to this one! The trailer I saw looked great, and Hubby was thrilled to see Harold Perrineau (try not to judge him on what they gave him to do in "Lost"...he's been really good in everything else I've seen him in!)

I won't be able to watch this one "live", thank goodness foe PVR!

This looks fantastic! I loved the comics and I loved the Keanu Reeves movie (even though it was so different) and I think I'm going to love this too. The cinematography is amazing and I'm super excited about these characters. Also, I saw Jeremy Davies there, so I hope he's a recurring character. I love that guy.

Yeah, I saw Jeremy Davis too, and got real hopeful.

The trailer looks great, but I thought Lucy Griffiths seemed...out of place. Just not working on the same level or with the same energy as the rest of the cast. Hope she steps it up or that these scenes weren't representative, but otherwise, I'm optimistic! Nice job getting a decent pilot made, NBC.

I agree about Lucy Griffiths, but I'm not familiar with her work from anywhere else. She was on True Blood, I guess? I also don't know how vital her character is to the plot - she's obviously the female lead, but maybe if she's awful she'll be cut loose.

Hmm I agree that Griffiths wasn't coming off well in the trailer, but if that's a similar character as Rachel Weisz in the movie, I hated her there to so maybe it's just he character? And I loved LG as Nora on True Blood.

The lead is very...unconventional for a mainstream network show, especially one that is already grim and nerdy, I loved the movie/basic premise of the comic so I assume I'll like this, I'm just not going to get super attached.

Cleo just posted on Tumblr the news that Lucy Griffiths's character has been written out, and a different female lead will join the cast instead. I'm surprised but pleased that they've recognized a mistake and are taking steps to fix it. I don't know anything about the Zed character, but it seems like it would be a good opportunity to inject some more diversity into the show by casting a WOC.

I've seen the leaked pilot (which I mostly liked, despite it being very pilot-y), and Lucy Griffiths was by far the weakest link in the cast. She was so wooden in some of her line deliveries that I was seriously considering not watching because I disliked her character so much. Super glad to hear they are course correcting!

So is anyone watching? Anyone? Bueller? Thoughts? Do you have them?

Mine: I see a generic, poorly (barely) written genre show with a fantastic lead who exists in a show of his own, in which some of the richness and freaky-deaky glory of the source material makes it to the screen.

I got into reading the comics solely because of the character as portrayed by the lead. And now I sit here, baffled by the show-runners' lack of vision, so far. I am prepared to tolerate because compelling screen version of a compelling character, but dude... the creative team better step up. Every genre show starts crappy because of the suits' insistence on the episodic format, but then the smart ones wiggle out of it and into rich arc-driven stories. I hope these guys wake up and follow the same route.

The actress playing Zed has never seen acting, not even on a clear day, but I do enjoy the way she tries not to tower over John.

Manny is very pretty and likeable for a smug asshole. More Manny. It's fun to watch Constantine get mad at selestial beings.

Chas is everything I didn't know I wanted.

Every producer that shuts down making a homoromantic relationship legit and sexual needs an IQ upgrade, because what can audiences possibly enjoy more than dudes making out in flattering lighting? Bisexual Constantine FTW.

The special effects blow goats.

I haven't seen Episode 3, but wasn't very impressed with the first two episodes. Axing the Lucy Griffiths character was a great move, but then they cast this terrible actress as Zed, and she too has no chemistry with Constantine. At this point, I'm basically hoping for a quick cancellation so someone can cast Matt Ryan in a better project.

I'll co-sign pretty much all of what Formerlyrandom has said.

So far it's nothing that I haven't seen before and done way better. It's a bit of the X-Files mixed with a lot of Supernatural, right down to the cheesy effects (seriously, I have seen effects that bad since SPN season 1). Both female leads have been generic and derivative, and while this Zed person at least came with a set of skills and something to *do*, the actress isn't much above the one they turfed. I haven't even finished the last two episodes because I had no connection to the story or characters. Again, been there, seen it already.

Personally, I think Matt Ryan comes across as very uncomfortable in the role, like he's still trying to find his legs with it. That he's actually British (well, Welsh...) is sort of funny to me because he sounds like he's putting on the accent (which, granted, may in fact be very different as to how he usually speaks, I don't know). I've found it a bit painful to watch and listen to him, to be honest; he just seems like he's really straining with the character.

I won't be keeping up with this one.

The thing is, I tried the show with zero expectations, preconceptions or knowledge of the story, only a vague memory of Keanu Reeves and some hot angel or something. No clue about Constantine's special cocktail of madness. By the middle of ep 2, I was like, oh hey, such an interesting and unusual character! Instead of a regular tortured hero/anti-hero, here is this trickster god/joker/selfless do-gooder/asshole with baggage/total fuck-up, all in a seedy human form. I was like, MOAR! I hear there is a comic series! (Cue distant funeral bells for my productivity).

So the performance pretty much got all of that across to a virgin viewer, with limited support from the script.

And then I started to give a fuck and was like, why are you people making such a terrible show? WHY?